 FEBRUARY 6 • 2020 | 5

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Finding The Good

letters

I 

often reserve this space for a lightheart-
ed look at some aspect of life. But the 
tragic helicopter accident that killed 
Kobe Bryant, his daugher and seven others, 
impeachment trial and a deadly virus are 
just some of the recent stories impeding my 
ability to find the humor in 
just about anything.
Throw into the mix the 
three funerals I’
ve attended in 
the last three weeks and there 
I was, sitting with my laptop 
in a booth at Panera Bread, a 
blank slate void of anything 
remotely gratifying to write 
about. Oh, woe is me. But then …
My pity party was interrupted by a spir-
ited conversation I overheard from an adja-
cent table that included — upon meeting 
them later — a psychologist, a police officer 
and several of their breakfast buddies.
It was an eclectic demographic group 
of white, black, middle-aged and senior 
citizens. I would learn later they gather 
Monday through Thursday mornings for an 
informal meeting of the minds. A roundta-
ble discussion, if you will, made up of two 
little tables pushed together.
The group was discussing the current 
state of (gulp) American politics. But it 
wasn’
t what they were talking about that 
intrigued me; it was how they were talking 
about it. Opposing points of view weren’
t 
being argued but respectfully discussed. 
A woman who overheard the topic 

stopped to engage the gentlemen on her 
way out, sharing her opinion in a friendly 
tone. I stared and listened. These folks were 
actually … communicating! 
At that moment, one of the guys caught 
me observing their forum and with a 
chuckle said: “Oh, oh, better watch out; I 
think that guy over there wants to join the 
discussion!” Well, I kinda did.
I sauntered over to the group and was 
immediately asked what I did. I told them 
I’
m a writer who once enjoyed penning 
equal-opportunity political humor but, 
because of the divisiveness in our country, 
I was avoiding the topic as if it were the 
coronavirus.
I joined the conversation but didn’
t go 
so far as taking a side. Wait, what? How, 
in this seemingly irretrievable polarizing 
atmosphere we live in, could I possibly have 
avoided taking a position? It’
s not that I 
didn’
t have one, but at that moment I didn’
t 
want to. 
On this day, I was just happy to witness 
people with opposing points of view push 
two tables together and reasonably discuss 
them like real people, not politicians. And 
from what I can tell, all the participants will 
reunite tomorrow morning at the same two 
tables to discuss something entirely differ-
ent. I intend to find out. 
It turns out on this particular day, this 
Panera location had a second act in store 
for helping rehabilitate my faith in humani-
ty. Two hours later, I was back in line order-

ing lunch, a very long line. I commented to 
the woman in front of me that I was going 
to bail out because I was on a tight sched-
ule. Without missing a beat, she not only 
invited me to move ahead of her in line but 
also offered to hold my place while I went 
to save a table for myself. 
I mean, really? 
I thanked her profusely but couldn’
t 
in good conscious improve my standing 
over the several people lined up behind 
me. Instead, I exhibited some new found 
patience, kept my place in line and had a 
lovely chat with her until both of us ended 
up at side-by-side registers … at which 
point I clandestinely slipped my credit card 
into her register’
s machine and paid for her 
carryout. 
I wanted her to know how much her 
selfless act meant to me. Her random act of 
kindness led to mine. See how that works? 
The cherry on top? She was so taken by 
my gesture that she informed me she was 
heading to her Bible study, where she would 
include me in her prayers. The woman 
operating the register followed suit and pro-
claimed she, too, would say a prayer for me.
How do you like that? Who knew that 
when I ordered my Panera Baja Bowl with 
chicken that I would end up with two free 
sides of prayers? I left full and fulfilled. 

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting talent, 
speaker, and emcee. Visit his website at laughwith-
bigal.com,“Like” Al on Facebook and reach him at 
amuskovitz@renmedia.us.

continued on page 6

Alan 
Muskovitz

What’
s Our First Priority?

If the clergy who went to the Mexican 
border (“Remember the Stranger,” Jan.16, 
page 15) had been in California and 
merely turned around, they would have 
seen a different human crisis. There, 
more than 130,000 people are homeless.
In Los Angeles County, about 59,000 
(the population of Royal Oak) live on the 
streets. Lacking toilets, many defecate on 
the sidewalk. (City workers then wash it 
into storm sewers, so it flows untreated to 
the ocean, killing fish and other aquatic 

life.) That, along with the garbage creat-
ed, has led to rat infestation, and people 
passing through have contracted typhoid 
while walking to work. Now doctors warn 
about the bubonic plague returning.
Yet, California’
s government does not 
act to solve this crisis, due primarily 
to drug addiction and treatable mental 
illness. Instead, it plans to spend tens 
of millions more annually on welfare 
benefits for persons there illegally. But 
doesn’
t Torah tell us our first priority 
is to help our needy fellow citizens? 
(Devarim 15:7-11)

More benefits for the undocumented 
will, of course, draw more of them north 
with transit purchased from the cartels 
— criminal organizations that make mil-
lions from human and drug trafficking 
and which sow chaos in Central America. 
Cutting the cartels of income by strength-
ening the border would improve lives for 
people on both sides. Why isn’
t that being 
done?

— Kerry Greenhut

West Bloomfield

